Podcast: Composer Andy Teirstein spins an audio odyssey in album ‘Restless Nation’

Welcome to Times Will Tell, the weekly podcast from The Times of Israel.

This week we speak with composer Andy Teirstein about his new contemporary classical music album, “Restless Nation” and play selections from it.

Like his music, Teirstein is hard to categorize. Born in New York City to a Jewish family, he quickly diverted from his classical piano and violin lessons and formed folk bands in his youth. Later, he joined a wilderness school’s itinerant bus and he traveled around the United States while hiking, working in local communities — and absorbing their music.

These travels and his subsequent varied occupations can be heard in his compositions, whether as a field hand, a clown, an actor, or a university professor. The inspiration for the new album’s pieces comes from all over the globe, too, including here in Israel.

We’ve played selections of “Restless Nation” throughout the conversation. One piece includes Israeli oud player Yair Dalal and was inspired by a camel trek with Bedouin in the Arava Desert which ended each day with fireside jam sessions deep into the night.

Fire-side musical jam with Bedouin, oud player Yair Dalal and composer Andy Teirstein. (courtesy)

There is a whole cast of other leading musicians recorded on the album, including Teirstein himself on a haunting harmonica solo in his piece, “Letter to Woody,” based on archival documents he found in the Woody Guthrie library.

Today, Teirstein is a professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He is also active in coexistence arts initiatives, such as the Translucent Boundaries project, which was founded in Israel and since expanded globally. It seeks to bring together the music and dance from peoples who share borders.

A big thanks to Navona Records for granting permission for use of the album tracks.

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